Traditional Costume Of The Iban (female)

The Ibans are a branch of the Dayak peoples of Borneo. In Malaysia, most Iban are located in Sarawak, a small portion in Sabah and some in west Malaysia. They were formerly known during the colonial period by the British as Sea Dayaks. Iban were renowned for practising headhunting and tribal/territorial expansion and had a fearsome reputation as a strong and successful warring tribe in ancient times.

Since the arrival of Europeans and the subsequent colonisation of the area, headhunting gradually faded out of practice although many tribal customs, practices and language continue. The Iban population is concentrated in Sarawak,Brunei and in the West Kalimatan region of Indonesia. They live in longhouses called rumah panjang.

Nowadays, most of the Iban longhouse are equipped with modern facilities such as electricity and water supply and other facilities such as (tar sealed) roads, telephone lines and the internet. Younger Iban are mostly found in urban areas and visit their hometown during the holidays. The Iban today are becoming increasingly urbanised while retaining most of their traditional heritage and culture.

We are going to show Iban traditional clothes. We called it "ngepan Iban"

This is the complete set of it. Usually the girl wearing ngepan is ready to ngajat, for her wedding or the gawai celebration itself.

"marik empang" made up of beads and threads.

We called the set of bracelets and silver belts "tumpa"

The tumpa is originally made from silver, nowadays it is really hard to find the original one. 

 

 

 

"sugu tinggi" 

    also made up of silver, nowadays the sugu tinggi that were sold on the streets most of it made up of steel or other fake materials.

bracelets a.k.a "Tumpa"

tumpa is pronounces as tumpo

''selampai''

silver belts with coins on their waist it is called tating kain

during gawai we're having beauty contest also. The girl that won the contest crowned as kumang gawai.

the skirt that they are wearing is called kain kebat.

Kuih Bahulu

Kuih Bahulu is a traditional Malay food is usually very popular especially on the feast day celebrations and. Even so, when these cookies kuih bahulu available in supermarkets at any time for a favorable response from the public.

Generally kuih bahulu consists of 3 types of kuih bahulu which bears small, and kuih bahulu sheeting,kuih bahulu ply rolls. Kuih bahulu sheeting and rolls quite scarce in supermarkets should be reserved for the traditional cake maker.

How to make three types of cookies kuih bahulu is quite easy and simple recipes that require eggs, flour, sugar, a bit of cooking oil / ghee and add TasteSpotting ply and roll jam or rich.

A perfect kuih bahulu is bake using the old-fashioned charcoal mould.but nowadays we choose to use this aluminium mould and bake in the oven.

The mould must be hot and greased so cake will not stick to the mould when removing them.

It is easy to use bamboo skewer to prick cake and lift out from the mould.

Gua Niah(Miri Sarawak)

Although it is one of Sarawak’s smallest national parks, it is certainly one of the most important and unusual attractions to visitors. What is most interesting about Niah is that one of the main claims to fame is the birthplace of civilization in the region.  The oldest modern human remains in Southeast Asia along with many other relics of prehistoric man were discovered about 40,000 years ago, making the park one of the most important archaeological sites in the world.

The park has a size of 3,140 hectares of forest and limestone karst areas.  It was first gazetted as a National Historic Monument in 1958 and on 23 November 1974 was gazetted as National Park and open to public on 1 January 1975.

In 1958, a discovery was made which confirmed Niah as a site of major archaeological significance.  Led by Tom Harrison, he and his team unearthed a skull at the West Mouth of the Great Cave, which was estimated to be 40,000 years old.  It was the skull of a modern human (Homo sapiens).  Apart from that, plenty of human settlements in the area like tools, cooking utensils and ornaments, made of bone, stone or clay were found.  These items found suggested that a long period of settlement reaching back into the palaeolithic era (the earliest part of the Stone Age).

Besides that, the Sungei Subis (Subis river) flows along the park's western border. Not forgetting a large, almost vertical limestone massif, Gunung Subis (Mount Subis), which rises from the plain little above sea level and covers about 60% of the area?  The limestone was originally formed as a coral reef in the Lower Miocene.  Later it was uplifted and modified by faulting and erosion. 

 The accessible way to the Caves is via a raised plank walk that winds through lowland forest vibrant with birds and butterflies.  Today the Cave is home only to bats, swiftlets and other specially adapted forms of life. However, a few locals still venture into the dark interior to collect guano (bird and bat droppings used as fertilizer) and bird's nest.

Apart from the Caves, visitors can explore several kilometers of forest trails to feel the richness of tropical rainforests, climb a 400m tall limestone ridge or visit an Iban longhouse located near the Park boundary. Visitors can also rent a boat or walk along the river from Park headquarters to Batu Niah town.

Fairy Cave

Fairy Caves in Kuching, Sarawak Borneo is located about 50 km from the capital and getting here is quite easy considering you take a proper tour guide with you. The caves are about 8km to the nearest town calledBau which used to be a gold mining town back in the day. The Fairy Cave is also known as Gua Kapor in Malayand is one of the very interesting caves to visit while here. My trip to the caves was very scenic where I passed various pepper plantations, local villages and lots of greenery. Make sure you stop at Bau Town to stock up on water and snacks as there is absolutely nothing there at the fairy caves. Also, make your toilet stop at town too as there are no toilets at the caves.

The caves seems to have been given a revamp as there are walkways and concrete staircases made for tourists or local who go there. I asked my regular guide Selvem why the Sarawak Government has not paid any attention to these caves here and even he did not know how to answer me. It is a unique cave within Kuching but is not promoted. Seems like the government made the signboards but never really followed up.

An amazing world of greens with the sunlight hitting part of the caves. Sadly there is no info on the Sarawak Forestry website on these caves.